The Real Reason I Went Back to Manila
On the last day of the pilgrimage, one of the group members thought she'd left her luggage at the hotel. I volunteered to run back and check. Nothing there. I ran back to the bus — ran, ran, ran — and forgot I was no longer 30. I heard a pop. Then pain. I was in a wheelchair all the way back to Manila.
Turns out I'd torn my meniscus. When I got back to Guam, they said I'd need surgery. I said fine — but I'm doing it in Manila. Why not, right? Plus, I'd get to see that girl I just met on the pilgrimage again.
I left Manila on October 11, 2023. I was back by November 9. The premise was knee surgery. The perk was her. I knew I was smitten.
I stayed in BGC, we had lunches together, wandered Intramuros, and spent time getting to know each other for real — not as fellow pilgrims, but as two people figuring out what this thing between them actually was.
